Don’t invade your heater’s personal space! Make sure there is at least one metre between the heater and things that can burn such as paper, bedding, clothing, furniture, curtains and people.

There should always be adult supervision when heating sources are in use and always turn off portable heaters before leaving the home. Use a fireplace screen to prevent sparks or burning wood from escaping from the fireplace.

With all your heating sources plugged in and running at full capacity be sure to look out for and avoid danger signs such as overloaded electrical outlets, cracked or frayed cords, or cords running across traffic areas and under carpets or furniture.

Smoke alarms provide a critically important – and potentially life-saving early warning of fire, giving you time to escape. According to extensive research, the shorter the interval between the ignition and the discovery of a fire in a home, the lower the death rate.

Home smoke alarms provide a cost-effective technology to shorten this discovery time. In addition, the likelihood of dying in a house fire is halved in homes with working smoke alarms.

Make sure to check that all doors and at least one window in each room are not blocked by anything. 

Also be sure that windows can open easily and avoid burglar bars, double cylinder locks and any other security measure that could trap you inside a burning home.

A home escape plan is a plan of action to safely exit a home in case of a fire. Each member of the household must know how to act and where to go in the case of a fire so that precious time is not lost trying to decide what to do as fire can spread through the home extremely fast.